Foothills Boy Scout Duped Out Of $1,825 On Project To Honor Veterans
JACKSON (CBS13) — Luke Hermanson, 15, salutes the flag atop a monument he built with his fellow Sutter Creek scouts to honor veterans outside Victory Village in Jackson.
"They stood for that flag, they served for that flag so we could have freedom today," Hermanson said.
But the Sutter Creek scout says the website he paid to make the plaques never delivered, leaving his Eagle Scout project stalled.
"The brass plaque will go right about here," Hermanson said, pointing to the unfinished project.
Hermanson ordered $1,825 in plaques from Citizenbronze.com in March 2019. One was supposed to read "All Gave Some, Some Gave All." But the Florida company never delivered them and stopped returning Hermanson's calls.
The troop cleared the site, laid the foundation and the first layer of concrete. But without the plaques, Hermanson was unable to finish the final step: installing engraved bricks to honor the veterans by name.
"I was so disappointed in myself for trusting the company and the company for not coming through, I was really sad," Hermanson said.
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The Florida Attorney General said the owner, Juan Quiceno, runs several companies including Keystone Bronze Plaques and Plaquesondemand.com, and customers are complaining saying "fake company scamming customers," "we have not received our refund," and "requesting a criminal investigation."
Even unfinished, Hermanson's project is meaningful to local veterans like retired Marine Gunny Searcy.
"I'm getting emotional," Gunny said, tearing up. "Luke is to be commendated."
But Hermanson remained determined to complete it saying, "I will make sure the project gets done." So, he turned to the Call Kurtis team for help. As we investigated, we told him to challenge the charge with the credit card company. We also repeatedly reached out to Juan Quiceno and learned his Florida address is a mailbox inside this store.
We got the Florida Attorney General involved and they got Quiceno to respond by email.
"I am more than willing to provide a complete and total refund to this customer. Every red cent will be paid," Quiceno wrote.
But before that could happen, the credit card company refunded Hermanson's money. More than a year after he started, his project is now finished with plaques he ordered from a different company.
"I feel really excited that it's done," Hermanson said, calling the veterans it was built for heroes.
"Their sacrifice helped build this great country. Without them, we wouldn't be here."
We finally got in touch with the owner of Citizen Bronze, more than 18 months after Luke ordered his plaques. He said his company had some financial problems and he feels terrible about the situation. He told us all customers impacted are now whole.
